1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of devices for registering and totalling prices of purchased items. More specifically, it relates to an automated checkout apparatus for rapid and virtually simultaneous reading of bar codes on and totalling of prices for items selected for purchase. Each purchase item is marked in advance with a bar code identifying the nature of the product, its weight and its price.
The inventive checkout apparatus preferably includes a shopping cart receiving tunnel having an entry port, side and top walls and an exit port. The tunnel has a floor covered by a conveyor belt, activated by a cart sensor located at the tunnel entry port. The conveyor belt supports and carries the shopping cart from the entry port to a scanning location, and then through the exit port. The conveyor belt stops at the scanning location, and a scanner assembly inside the tunnel reads the bar codes of the items in the shopping cart without the need of removing the items from the cart. A scale in the tunnel floor weighs the cart and its contents. A computer connected to the scanner assembly automatically compares the scale weight with the calculated totalled weight for the items and if there is a match, it totals the prices and prints a receipt. The tunnel preferably has a motorized entry door and a motorized exit door which both automatically close when the shopping cart is conveyed inside the tunnel, for safety and security purposes. These doors remain closed until money, a credit card, coupons, or other payment means are inserted into a payment receiving assembly attached adjacent the entry port, and the totalled price is thereby paid. The payment receiving assembly sends a signal to the computer which in turn causes the entry and exit doors to open. The conveyor belt is then activated by the computer to carry the cart through the exit port and to a bagging area where the customer or store employee bags the purchased items. An intruder sensor is also preferably provided in the tunnel to detect a human or animal presence, and is connected to the computer which in turn automatically prevents closure of the doors and prevents activation of the conveyor belt and bar code scanner assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have long been checkout stations in stores where items to be purchased are sorted and their prices totalled. Customers select and gather these items in bags, baskets or carts. Checkout stations have typically included a counter, located near a store exit door, where customers unload items they wish to purchase, and some sort of adding device operated by a store employee. Adding devices for this purpose soon evolved into the cash registers, which required the individual entry of numerical characters and categories of goods, and which included a mechanism for totalling the entered figures. Conveyor belts were developed for carrying items along the counter to a bagging area and the counters were oriented to follow a general line from the center of the store toward the exit door. Eventually bar codes replaced numerical price stickers on purchase items and scanners were built into checkout counters to read the codes of items which had to be presented one by one with the continual assistance of a cashier. The cash register required some additional manual operation to complete the transaction. Despite these advances, the handling of purchase items one by one to register and total their prices remains slow and inefficient, often causing long lines and customer frustration. Furthermore, store profits are diminished by cashier salaries.
One prior checkout system is that of Kohno, U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,613, issued on Mar. 23, 1993. Kohno discloses a commodity data reader including a checkout counter having an upright instrument stand protruding from one longitudinal edge. On the counter side of the stand is a scanner window. The customer places containers filled with purchase items on the counter and leans on the stand for comfort while individually lifting the items out of the containers to scan their bar codes. A problem with Kohno is that the customer must scan each item separately, which can be a long and laborious task. It is in recognition of this situation that the customer is supposed to lean on the stand. "The operator must slouch slightly in scanning bar codes [and thus] is not fatigued after working for a long time . . . " Column 5, lines 22-24. Another problem is that the purchase items are not protected from theft during the checkout operation. A person could snatch a container full of items from the counter and dash for the exit door.
Collins, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,819, issued on May 29, 1990, teaches a method and apparatus for self scanning of purchase items in a store. Shopping carts are equipped with a multi-walled receptacle for receiving and transporting items having product codes attached to them. An electric module including a code scanner, a data processor and a video camera is removably attached to each cart. Each item selected for purchase is passed in front of a scanner window on the module and deposited in the cart. Then during checkout the module is detached from the cart and the data downloaded and processed at a checkstand. A problem with Collins is that the customer must pass each item in front of a scanner window to register the price, which becomes a time consuming and tiresome task.
There are three U.S. Patents issued to Humble et al.: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,792,018, issued on Dec. 20, 1988; 4,964,053, issued on Oct. 16, 1990; and 4,676,343, issued on Jun. 30, 1987. All three of these patents relate to a self-service distribution system. Purchase items are passed over a scanner window in a counter surface, sent through a tunnel on a conveyor belt for security against theft, and separated and bagged by hand as they exit the tunnel. Security gates between checkout stations prevent customers from exiting or gaining access to checked items until the bill is paid. The items are weighed as they enter the tunnel and the weight is compared with weight data in the scanned bar code of the item to confirm that the code tags match the items. The latest Humble et al. patent concerns checking of produce items not having bar codes where icons are selected to enter data. A problem with Humble et al. is that the customer or a cashier must still pass the items individually, one by one, over the scanner window to register the prices. "The customer now passes each item, one by one, UPC code down, over the reader 10 and deposits the item on entry conveyor 12." U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,018, column 4, lines 65-67. The tunnel provides security from theft during checkout, but little else. The security gates blocking the exit of customers may be of questionable legality, and lead to accusations of false imprisonment. Yet without these gates, the system does not fully protect the purchase items.
Kipp, U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,167, issued on Aug. 24, 1993, reveals a system for operator-unassisted checkout of purchase items randomly disposed in a container. A transmitter containing a power source is attached to each item and is activated during checkout to send a signal to a decoder. The signals indicate the prices, and the prices are then totalled while the items remain together in their container. A problem with Kipp is that the providing of an individual transmitter on each purchase item for a single use makes the system expensive to operate. There is also the possibility of interference among several transmitter signals sent at once.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an automated checkout station apparatus which eliminates the need to remove purchase items from a shopping cart or other item holder and the need to enter their prices one by one.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which reads prices quickly and virtually simultaneously while the items remain together in the item holder, without the aid of a cashier.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is safe for customer use, requires no special skills to operate, and reduces theft of purchase items.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is relatively simple in design, reliable and inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.